Simón Bolívar's Failure

Simón Bolívar “dreamed of a land governed by reason”, and although he spent an enormous amount and resources on his dream it was still a failure (Tignor). He was born in Venezuela in 1783 and his father was wealthy and socially powerful (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). While in Europe a former tutor told him about the writings of “European rationalist thinkers such as Locke, Hobbes, Buffon, d’Alembert, and Helvetius as well as Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau” (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). From there he returned to Venezuela and a year later a Latin American independence movement began. Bolívar quickly became a predominant figure in the movement because he was motivated by the opportunity to make his country a land
of reason. Bolívar was born into a family that was very wealthy and had a high social status. His parents died when he was very young and his Uncle took over care of him, managed Bolívar’s inheritance, and provided him with tutors. He moved to Spain in 1799 shortly after the death of his parents to continue his education (Simón Bolívar). While in Spain he married the daughter of a Spanish nobleman. After a year of marriage they decided to return to Venezuela, but while there she caught yellow fever and died. After the death of his wife Bolívar returned to Europe, and during this time Napoleon Bonaparte was rising to power in France.
“When Napoleon named Joseph Bonaparte King of Spain and its colonies, which included Venezuela, Bolívar joined the resistance movement” (Simón Bolívar). He wanted his home country of Venezuela along with other Latin American countries to gain independence from the Spanish who had become a puppet country of France. In 1810 the resistance group he was a member of was based in the Caracas, which had recently become independent. He traveled to Britain on a diplomatic mission for the independence of Latin American countries, which ultimately failed. However, his career and heavy involvement in the Latin American military and politics had begun. Bolívar would fight for the independence of Latin American countries, for unity of Latin American countries that would be a land of
reason. Bolívar finally returned to Venezuela and furthered the Venezuelan independence movement. He and his like-minded companions returned to Venezuela and initiated the "Compana Admirable. This allowed for the Venezuelan Second Republic to form, unfortunately for Bolívar a civil war quickly began and he was forced to flee. While seeking refuge outside Venezuela he sought foreign aid and wrote his most recognized literary work, the La Carta de Jamaica. In the La Carta de Jamaica he addresses his desire for Latin Americas countries to unite as a republic similar to the United States and have a government similar to England’s. He found foreign aid with the newly independent Hati, where he was welcomed with opened arms and received money and weapons.
Bolivar returned to Venezuela and three years of equal victories and defeats between his military and the Spanish followed. He set up his headquarter in an area that was not impacted by the war, acquired several thousand British and Irish officers and soldiers, and united the revolutionary forces. He planned an attack on the Spanish at New Granada on the Spanish, which the Spanish believed was unlikely due to the nearly impassable routes. “The Spaniards were taken by surprise and in the crucial Battle of Boyacá on August 7, 1819, the bulk of the royalist army surrendered to Bolívar” (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). This allowed Bolivar to take back several Venezuelan territories and the creation of the Gran
Colombia.
The Gran Colombia was a federation between Latin American countries which included present day Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador (Simón Bolívar). They were a union who were fighting for their independence from Spain and were mostly located in northern South America. Simón Bolívar led the Gran Colombia’s military forces from 1819 until his resignation in 1830 (Gran Colombia). Before his resignation he ordered a convention to create a new constitution, but it was only recognized by Nueva Granada, which only consisted of Colombia and Panama. At the time of his resignation his home country of Venezuela and Ecuador had left the Gran Colombia, and the vision he had for a land ruled by reason had failed.
The land of reason was a failure because the countries of the Gran Colombia could not cooperate. The constitution he drafted for the Gran Colombia was included his authoritarian desires, but it failed to meet his vision to reform society. In 1826 civil war began in Páez in Venezuela and New Granada because the leader in each country opposed the other. Bolívar was determined to keep the Gran Colombia united and called for a National Convention in April of 1828. Bolívar allowed an equal election to take place and those who opposed his beliefs became the majority power, and the constitution revisions he wanted did not happen. He assumed dictatorial roles by claiming opposing majority party had not done their political duties to revise the constitution. This led to an attempted assassination on Bolívar and he quickly realized his political career had come to an end and his life was in danger. He reached the northern coast on a planned exile to Europe, but before he left had found out the person he trained for his succession, Sucre, had been assassinated. Bolívar was overcome with grief and canceled his planned trip to Europe, towards the end of 1830 while staying in an Spanish admirer’s home he died of tuberculosis.